Give blood

Hello lovelies! I’m back, sorry for the absence but I just needed some time to myself. Hope you’re all well and had an amazing weekend. More snow came to Glasgow. Yesterday when we were leaving the gym we had the most beautiful snow slowly falling down, if only this happened before Christmas I would’ve appreciated it more! It was still nice but I need sunshine and warmth, desperately.

At the gym yesterday Faye, Ellis and I tried out 18.0. From what I’ve understood it, it’s like a taster for what’s to come in the Crossfit Open workouts. I haven’t signed up for the Open and not sure I will but I thought it would be a good warm up for us to try it out. It was gasy! I finished in 5.55 minutes which I was really happy about. Tia Toomey who’s the current Fittest Woman on Earth finished it in just over three minutes when she did it.

It’s so interesting to be able to do the same workouts with the same weight as the elite Crossfitters and realise how unbelievably fit they are! You of course have an idea but when you’re going all out in the same WOD as them and they finish it in half the time that you do and you have no idea on how you could’ve done it any quicker, that’s when you really get a feel for the level they are on.

After some fun at the gym with snatches and overhead squats Carole, Faye and I headed for some food before it was time for us to donate blood. I’ve never in my life donated blood before. It’s something I’ve thought about doing but for some reason never really managed to go and actually do. Now when I think about it having done it, I don’t really feel there’s been a good enough reason for me not doing it.

Faye organised us all and booked us in, thank you Faye for doing that! I had no idea of how it was all going to work but just tagged along with Faye, Carole and Carole’s other half Fraser who had all donated blood before. I would probably recommend going with someone, it made it all a lot less scary! We got there eventually through the snowstorm and the room was massive. Usually the blood donation centre is not open on a Sunday but right now there’s a massive shortage of blood in Scotland, so bad that they had it open extra during Sunday to allow people to book in and donate.

All the nurses there were lovely and so welcoming. Some of the nicest people I’ve met and what they’re doing is amazing. I was last out of our group to donate and I got a form to fill out where I had to answer loads of health related questions to ensure I would be okay to donate. They also tried my iron levels in my blood before they took any.

Remember if you’re donating blood to eat before and drink loads of water! A lovely nurse then came and took me to my big comfy seat where I got strapped up. I was starting to get a little nervous. I’m not really sure why. I guess it was because I’d never taken so much blood before and the idea of the needle going in my arm wasn’t the most pleasant idea but I took deep breaths and in the needle went. The nurse said if I feel at all light headed or dizzy to let her know. Faye so nicely kept me company and chatted away to keep me entertained whilst I sat there to not think about the blood. I looked over at one point at the machine and you could see how the blood was slowly filling up. I thought it would gross me out but it didn’t.

It took about seven minutes for me to get the amount of blood they wanted. It seems quite a lot when you look at the packet of it in the end but imagine how many people this could help! It’ incredible. Afterwards I did feel a little deflated and a little bit lightheaded, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. Faye on the other hand said she felt totally fine afterwards. The lovely nurse then insisted on carrying my stuff over to the little tea and coffee area where the Carole and Fraser were sitting to make sure I was okay and the second I sat down another lovely nurse asked if I wanted any drinks or biscuits or anything. I couldn’t get over how lovely they all were. We sat there for a little while and then we left.

The rest of the afternoon I felt a little bit tired but I perked up towards the evening again and today I feel fine again. I drank lots of water and had lots of food to help my body recover. At the end of the day none of that matters. What really matters is that as Faye said “We literally saved lives”, donating blood saves lives. You could make the difference between life or death. When you think about it like that, it makes the decision so easy. It was a truly eye opening experience and since I uploaded about it on Instagram yesterday I’ve had people messaging me who’s had blood transfusions saying how grateful they are to people who donate. When you hear it from people you know it really touches you. So guys if you can please try and make it along, if not in Scotland or the UK, look up where your donation centres are in your country.

The Glasgow Blood Donor Centre is on Nelson Mandela Place right in the middle of City Centre off Buchanan Street so you could stop by anytime you’re in town. You can book in your time slot here. In a couple of weeks I’ll be receiving my donor card where I’ll also find out my blood type. I don’t actually know what it is so that’s a nice little bonus!